Returned To Sender
by LizzieBeth91
Summary: Written for 'Quotes' Challenge on HP Fan Fiction Challenges Forum. On the 2nd May 1997, Audrey Cross discovers that Percy has been keeping a secret from her, so she returns the greatest gift she's ever recieved.


**A/N: **This is written for the 'Quotes' Challenge on HP Fan fiction Challenge Forums. I picked number 63 and received the following.

63: Not all scars show. Not all wounds heal. Sometimes you can't always see the pain someone feels.

**Returned to Sender**

Audrey paced nervously in front of Percy's fireplace, a box held in her hands. She'd found it in the cupboard while she was cleaning, and had been unable to open it. Now, she was waiting for her fiancé to return in order to ask him about it.

When he the fire eventually spat him out an hour later, Percy had a panic stricken look on his face, which only increased as he saw the box she was holding. He strode forward, wrenching it out of her hands.

'Where did you get this? Did you open it?' he demanded.

'It was in your cupboard, no I didn't open it and hello to you too' she retorted, collapsing into a chair and turning her face away from him. He bent down, so their faces were level and attempted to turn her face so he could kiss her. She stubbornly kept staring at the wall.

'Audrey? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap, it was just such a shock to see you holding this box, especially after the day I've had. It's crazy at the Ministry at the moment, the fight has started you see. Everyone's gathering at Hogwarts and I'm scared. I shouldn't have snapped at you, I really shouldn't have.'

She gasped, and slid out of her seat to sit beside him on the floor. She gathered him into her arms, as he started to cry. She knew she knew more about this wizarding war than she should, she knew that it wouldn't be safe for her if Voldemort won and she could understand why Percy would be scared.

'I'm scared. I'm so very scared. What if Harry dies? What if we lose? What if one of them dies, and they don't know that I left because I had to? What if I never get to say goodbye to them?'

'Perce, honey. Who's them?'

'My family'

Just like that, Audrey Cross felt her world fall to pieces around her. Percy had told her that he was an only child. He looked at her, having realised what he'd said and regretting it. As she listened to him babble about 'responsibilities' and 'I had no choice' she found herself staring at the box on the ground between them. She picked it up, holding it out to him.

'Open it.'

He waved his wand, muttering a spell and the box sprang open to reveal several childhood tokens and a photograph of Percy with six other children and two smiling adults, all bearing red hair and freckles.

'Six siblings' she hissed at him 'you have six beautiful siblings. How dare you leave them? How dare you lie to me about it? You told me that you had no one! I thought that we were the same! I thought you understood!'

'We are the same. I don't have anybody but you. My family are gone. I don't have them anymore.'

'We're not the same. I didn't have a choice in the matter. My family died. You left yours behind.'

'I didn't have a choice, Dumbledore made me.'

'There's always a choice! You leave, or you don't. And now you could lose them forever, you could lose your entire world! What are you still doing here?'

'I'm keeping you safe. You're my family now.'

'Go back to them Percy, or leave now and don't come back' she whispered, sliding the ring from her finger, then racing up the stairs to the bathroom, praying he hadn't seen her tears.

Her father's voice popped into her head, something he'd always told her about her mother, and something she'd never understood until now.

'Not all scars show. Not all wounds heal. Sometimes you can't always see the pain someone feels.'

She stood on shaky legs, and returned downstairs just in time to see Percy disappear in a flash of green flames. There was a note on the coffee table, placed on top of the box. She picked it up and read it, noticing as she did so the shaky writing and the tear drops that littered the parchment.

_My dearest Audrey,_

_I've gone to join the battle. You were right. I always had the choice. I just took the one that I thought was easiest. I was a fool. An arrogant, ambitious fool. I thought I knew better than everybody I loved best in the world. I'm sorry I lied to you. I truly am._

_Please stay, please don't leave me. I understand if you do leave, but I hope you stay. I needed you; you were the missing puzzle piece in my life. I still need you. Your ring is in the box, I just hope that one day you'll wear it again._

_If I don't make it, I want you to know that I've loved you from the first moment I saw you. I still do, I always will. If I don't make it, I'll make sure someone comes to tell you. _

_Audrey Cross, I once told you that I wanted to spend the rest of forever with you, and I still do. Except now, thanks to you, we won't be alone. We'll have my family with us. _

_Love always,_

_Percy Fabian Weasley_

For the rest of the night, Audrey curled up onto the bed they shared, holding Percy's pillow to her chest, breathing the scent of him in. After reading the letter she'd placed the ring back on her finger and studied the photo again, reading the names on the back as if it was a test in school, as if she was going to get graded on how well she remembered the grinning faces and the names that went with them.

As the dawn arrived, she heard the sound of the Floo working, followed by the sound of someone calling her name. She ran down the stairs, heart pounding in her chest to find Percy in the living room, supported by the man that could only be his brother Charlie. Pain was etched onto every inch of their faces. She fell to her knees as Percy collapsed, taking his hands in hers.

'Percy. Oh Percy. You're alright. You're alive. Oh thank god!'

Percy gripped her hands tighter, tears streaming unguarded down their cheeks as they studied every inch of each other's faces. Charlie knelt down next to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

'Thank you. Thank you for returning him to us. He came just in time. He got to see...' he managed before he choked up too.

Audrey looked from one brother to the other, her brain ticking over as she watched them. Sometimes you can't always see the pain someone feels, but sometimes you can see it all too clearly. Sometimes it's etched into every line, every freckle, and every inch of them. Sometimes all you can do, is bear witness to the pain, she realised. She closed her eyes, sending a silent prayer, wishing for Percy to not say his next words. If they were what she thought they'd be, she'd sent him back just in time. Her mind fills with images of the nine smiling faces in the photo upstairs and she waits with bated breath as Percy opens his mouth.

'Audrey, its Fred. He's gone. He died.'

**A/N:** So I've been meaning to write this for a while, I just needed an excuse. If you read my story 'Things I Know About You' (Chapter 37) you'll see that I mention that Audrey's the reason Percy returns when he does. Anyway, please review. Let me know what you thought!


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